A Texas man long under suspicion for the disappearance and presumed murder of his wife was taken into custody and charged with several crimes over the weekend, charging documents show.
Marquise Rochard Glasper, 37, stands accused of murder, tampering with evidence — human corpse, unlicensed possession of a firearm by a felon, and evading arrest, according to Harris County court records reviewed by Law&Crime. The charges concern Glasper’s wife Crystal Lynch, 35, a beloved mother of two who vanished on the night of May 6.
The alleged victim’s body has yet to be found.
Crystal Lynch was reported missing by her 16-year-old daughter on the day after she disappeared — after the girl’s mother failed to pick her up from work at Taco Bell that day, according to a highly detailed murder complaint obtained by Law&Crime. The court filing was prepared by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and relies primarily on the work of two Houston Police Department detectives.
Foul play in the missing person’s case was suspected from the start.
At around 9 p.m. that night, the 16-year-old texted her mom “to let her know that she needed to be picked up from work,” according to the complaint. The girl told detectives that “someone responded over text, but that the content of the text messages was different” from how her mom texts. Rather, the girl told law enforcement, that whoever was using her mom’s phone “was using short slang words” and that her mom “usually texts in full sentences,” the complaint says. The girl went on to tell the detectives that her stepfather Glasper “texts in short slang in the same manner as the texts she received” from her mom’s phone.
Later that night, the girl’s stepfather picked her up from Taco Bell, the complaint says. In her interviews, the 16-year-old recounted how Glasper had a gun with blue grip tape on the handle — a gun the married couple shared — sticking out of his right pants’ pocket when he arrived in her mom’s silver Jeep. The girl said “this was strange” because the gun was usually kept out of sight by the defendant.
Another oddity that night, the girl told police, was an air of kindness from Glasper — which is described as him “acting strangely” in the complaint. Typically, the girl and her stepfather have a “bad relationship” and “communicate as little as possible,” the complaint alleges. But on that night, Glasper allegedly repeatedly knocked on the girl’s bedroom door to check on her and ask if she was OK.
The next morning, a good friend of the presumed dead woman was called to come pick up the 16-year-old and her 10-year-old sister.
That friend, according to police, revealed that she and Lynch had gone out with two men for drinks on the night of May 5. They later had sex with those men at a hotel. And, as it turns out, Glasper somehow became aware of this adulterous night out. As the friend shared this story, the 16-year-old girl interjected to say that her stepfather had previously made comments to the effect of how he would kill Lynch if he ever found out about her cheating on him.
It was clear that Glasper knew about the affair, Lynch’s friend and daughter told detectives, because he later told them details about the night in question. The friend also said that on the morning and afternoon of May 6, someone using Lynch’s phone was texting her and asking questions about the sexual encounters from the night before. Lynch’s friend “found this to be unusual,” according to the complaint. The friend went on to suggest the person on the other end of the text thread was actually Glasper.
Glasper, for his part, allegedly told law enforcement that his wife’s 16-year-old daughter told him the details of her mother’s affair. During a three-hour-long phone interview, the defendant allegedly said his “main concern” was getting his wife back, according to the complaint. In line with a previous claim made by the 16-year-old that he had “pistol whipped” his wife, Glasper allegedly admitted to beating Lynch after learning she had been unfaithful while he was incarcerated.
On May 20, investigators received a search warrant for the silver Jeep. Inside they found five separate areas with “possible blood” stains and drops, the complaint says. Law enforcement also cut out and kept one of the seat covers — which appeared to have blood on it. The Jeep was returned to the defendant the next day.
Marquise Rochard Glasper appears inset against an image of the grassy alleyway where he is believed to have briefly stored his dead wife. (Houston Police Department; Google Maps)
In early August, the since-abandoned Lynch residence was finally searched after police received permission from the owners of the property. There, investigators found blood all over, police say.
“Eight possible drips of blood were found in the downstairs living room and a comforter, pillowcase, and sheet with possible blood stains were found in the downstairs laundry room,” the complaint reads. “Two hammers, a hatchet, and a box of 9 mm ammo with three bullets remaining were found in the home and possible bleach stains were visible dripping down the east wall of [Lynch’s] bedroom.”
The court document goes on to suggest a gruesome state of affairs.
“Possible blood-soaked underwear was found on [Lynch’s] bedroom floor and two pillows with possible blood spatter were found in [her] bedroom as well,” the complaint continues. “A possible blood stain was found on the mattress. A possible blood stain was found on the box spring. A possible blood stain was found on the side of the headboard. Possible blood spatter was observed on plastic bins in the master bedroom. Possible blood spatter was observed on the east wall of the bedroom and on the ceiling.”
Investigators also claim to have found what appeared to be bullet fragments — at least one of which had hairs on it.
And even more apparent blood.
“Possible blood was found under the baseboard surrounding the area where the projectile was removed,” the complaint continues. “Possible blood was also found under the floorboards where it appears to have seeped in between the cracks in the floor and possible blood was observed on the floorboards under the bed, measuring an area of approximately eight feet long and three feet wide.”
On Lynch’s bedside table, investigators found a “blank Final Decree of Divorce form” and several pieces of her identification, according to the complaint. Notably, Lynch left her makeup bag behind.
In the backyard of the residence, a broken kitchen chair was found pushed up against the fence. And the fence itself had a broken board leaning in the direction of the grassy alleyway.
In surveillance footage, law enforcement allege, the silver Jeep owned by the presumed dead mother of two can be seen pulling up to that same spot in the alley, putting on hazard lights, and lingering there for a few minutes just after 11 p.m. on the night Lynch went missing.
The defendant, in a mid-September interview, said the last time he saw his wife was the night of her disappearance — after she dropped her daughter off at Taco Bell. He left to go get cigars after she got home, Glasper allegedly said, and while out, received a text from Lynch asking him to pick up the 16-year-old from work because she was going out “with her friend again,” according to the complaint.
According to police, the timeline provided by Glasper fails to account for roughly two to three hours (between 10:22 p.m. and around midnight when the girl was finally retrieved from Taco Bell) on the night Lynch disappeared. The defendant allegedly sought to account for this by saying that he was out trying to obtain marijuana.
The defendant also allegedly volunteered that his wife was on her period on May 5 and that the two had sex in the back of the Jeep. Law enforcement categorized this story as a “preemptive explanation” for why blood was found inside of the vehicle.
In the interview, Glasper also allegedly complained about his wife doing “shady s–––” and said he was mad at her for having sex with another man before she had sex with him on May 5 — and for not bathing in between those alleged sex acts.
One notable alleged admission, of sorts, also appears in the complaint.
“Marquise emphasized in the interview that he only wanted to get married one time,” the court document reads.
Lynch’s sister told Houston CBS Affiliate KHOU that Gasper and Lynch had been married about a year when her sister went missing.
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